The Daily - The Sunday Read: ‘Ukraine’s 15,000-Mile Lifeline’

Shortly after the war in Ukraine began, terrified civilians from across the country made their way to their cities’ main train stations. The stations became scenes of great panic, with people jostling to be admitted onto the crowded trains. Compartments were filled 10 times their intended capacity, and people were packed shoulder to shoulder, unable to sit down. Images from these moments captured the beginning of the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. In this extensively reported article, Sarah A. Topol explores the history and cultural significance of Ukraine’s railways, and their crucial importance within the war effort.

Duration: 1h 5m
Broadcast on: 11 Dec 2022
Audio Format: other

Shortly after the war in Ukraine began, terrified civilians from across the country made their way to their cities’ main train stations.

The stations became scenes of great panic, with people jostling to be admitted onto the crowded trains. Compartments were filled 10 times their intended capacity, and people were packed shoulder to shoulder, unable to sit down. Images from these moments captured the beginning of the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

In this extensively reported article, Sarah A. Topol explores the history and cultural significance of Ukraine’s railways, and their crucial importance within the war effort.

This story was written by Sarah A. Topol and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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This podcast is supported by TikTok. Sometimes the most interesting discoveries are the ones you weren't looking for. That happens every day on TikTok. A science experiment can spark a whole new interest. A recipe you stumble upon can become a meal you make for the people you love. And a restaurant you've never heard of might become your new favorite spot. That's the thing about TikTok. Follow your curiosity and see where it leads. Your next discovery is waiting on TikTok. My name is Sarah Topul and I'm a contributing writer at the New York Times magazine. On February 24th, the day Russia invaded Ukraine, I landed in Miami. I had just filed a long story about Belarus and I was about to be on vacation with my family. But then the invasion started and we ended up watching TV kind of endlessly together on the couch. Unable to move because it was just so shocking. Kyiv, the city where my mom grew up. Har Kyiv, the city where my uncle went to college. A rocket just landed in front of his old university.

The sky opened up that day and war came out of it. As we were watching the news, I was seeing these scenes of people at train stations and just the inhumanity of trying to survive a war. How almost degrading it is to shove your way onto a tin can that's going to somehow ferry you to safety. I started thinking about the railways and the role that they play in Ukraine. My own grandmother was snuck onto a train Kyiv before the Nazis came and everyone else in my family who stayed there was killed. And so this railway, it's the reason I'm alive. It's also integral to what Ukraine is as a country as it now exists. I called my editor from Miami and said, "I have to go there. I can't just sit here." So the Sunday read that you're about to hear is the culmination of five weeks of reporting in Ukraine on its railway system. How it embodies Ukraine's history and so many of the things that make the country frustrating. Corruption, political infighting, cronyism, sexism, and inability to modernize. And also how it encapsulates all of the beauty of Ukraine, resilience, the strength, the people who have at their own risk, without even really thinking too hard about it, stayed, and didn't flee. So here's my article. Ukraine's 15,000-mile life line, read by Emily Ruseller. This was recorded by Autumn. To listen to more stories from The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and other publications on your smartphone, download Autumn on the App Store or the Play Store. Visit Autumn. That's AUDM.com for more details. On the night of February 23rd, when Kiev was still rife with rumors and denials about the Russian troops and weaponry amassing along the border, Oleksandr Komushin, the 38-year-old chief executive of Ukhurzali's Nitzia, Ukraine's national rail system, sent a photograph to the management's telegram group chat in an attempt to settle everyone's nerves. The photo showed him tucking his two sons, eight and twelve into bed in their apartment in central Kiev. The head of passenger services, Oleksandr Perzovsky, replied with a photo of his toddler taking a bath. The implication of both photos was clear. The leaders and their families were staying put. Komushin had been in charge of Ukhurzali's Nitzia for only six months. Still in his trial period, he hadn't even been offered a permanent contract. When he was hired, he espoused all the Western-approved jargon of railway reform that had been demanded of Ukraine for years. Higher freight yields, vertical integration, rolling stock renewal, cargo turnover, and so on. Komushin had spent eight years on the management board of system capital management, an investment house belonging to Ukraine's richest oligarch, Rinaat Ahmedov, which oversaw the iron ore and coal magnates freight trains. He ran international marathons, including the New York City Marathon, collected fine red wines and was a devoted fan of the internet-famous restaurateur Salt Bay, whom he once met in Istanbul. When the bombings started at 4 a.m., Komushin decided there was no time for the Western management techniques he had championed. He sent his wife and children and a majority of the Ukhurzali's Nitzia leadership team west. A command cell of six stayed in the center of Ukraine, all of them career railway men, yes, only men, who could close their eyes and recite the railway map down to the names and sizes of stations, how many tracks ran into each. The team decided it was important to project strength and fearlessness, to show that Ukrainians would not be terrorized.

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